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Even before the onset of this year’s twin health and economic crises, the role of the chief marketing officer had grown complicated.
On average, CMOs are the shortest-tenured members of the C-suite. Boards demand greatness from them. They are expected to be customer champions, frontline defenders of the brand, stewards of internal morale and culture, and drivers of company growth initiatives. Yet only 26% of CMOs are invited to attend board meetings regularly, according to research from Deloitte. Expectations are high, but access and influence are low.
In today’s environment, these challenges have only grown more stark. As businesses work to reinvent their product, channel, and demand strategies in the midst of quarantines, shutdowns, and changing consumer needs, CMOs need to be ready to deliver growth and create resilient marketing plans. The question is: Does the CMO role have the support needed to succeed?
To understand how CMOs can break the cycle of high expectations and constrained influence, last year we spoke with board members from over 50 Fortune 1000 companies and followed up with CMOs from various industries this year to understand how COVID-19 has affected them. Our learnings, further detailed in our new report below, point to ways that CMOs can reframe their position and become leaders in digital transformation. While it can be a difficult task, the findings prove that despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, there is no one better prepared than the CMO to help companies survive and thrive no matter what comes next.
What’s changed for the CMO?
One thing that has not changed: Growing the business is still the CMO’s chief goal. As one CMO put it, “the role of CMO these days is really being a chief growth officer for the company.” The CMO plays an ever more critical role in creating and managing a strategy to achieve sustainable, profitable growth. In a given week or month, CMOs spend much of their time working with teams to run the business, solve problems, and support short-term and long-term growth opportunities that can net immediate wins and set the company up for future success. The remainder of their time is often spent managing and supporting their people.
What has changed is how that business growth is achieved. COVID-19 interrupted supply chains and drastically altered shopping patterns. Marketers had to adapt on the fly, pausing or canceling campaigns, finding new messaging that was relevant and respectful of the times, and adjusting to a new reality in which digital and contactless shopping behaviors were accelerated.
Retailers have long been beefing up e-commerce solutions, but the pandemic led to millions of new consumers turning to online shopping, digital brand interactions, contactless payments, and omnichannel fulfillment methods (such as, curbside delivery, in-store pickup).
As consumer shopping continues to shift online, CPG industry CMOs are speeding up previous efforts to capitalize on direct-to-consumer growth opportunities. “COVID has accelerated trends already out there,” said one head of marketing at a CPG company. “We’ve had a plan to attack this, and now we have to accelerate how we go about it.”
For the automotive sector, these changes have highlighted the role of analytics in the CMO’s role. COVID-19 “has accelerated shopping online, digital shopping, etc.,” said the CMO of an auto brand. “It has also accelerated the focus on the importance of a robust analytics team that can help sort through all the data and turn it into actionable insights that drive the organization forward.”
In the thick of the pandemic, the U.S. also saw nationwide protests over centuries-long racial injustices. This development brought a renewed focus on diversity in the corporate sphere. Regardless of industry, while many CMOs already had a preexisting commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, they are now taking even more steps focused on long-term investment to reflect those core values. This includes efforts to improve retention, increase diversity in leadership, and focus on inclusive recruiting strategies.
In 2020, CMOs found themselves faced with building resilience into their organizations not only to survive very real short-term perils, but also to ensure sustainable growth into an uncertain future. With these shifting priorities, today it is more crucial that CMOs manage these new expectations with their boards.
The 5 CMO archetypes
So what’s a CMO to do? Since the CMO can’t be all things at once, it’s best to focus on your strengths and the board’s expectations. Deloitte has tested five different archetypes that can help CMOs do just that. Involving the CEO and board early, to understand where they perceive the greatest value, and enlisting them as thought partners and sounding boards, will help you figure out which archetypes will set your company up for success.
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